Effort and Endeavor – Seyh Muhammed Muta El-Haznevi

I start my speech with the name of Allah, the Compassionate and the Merciful. All our praises and glorifications is for Allah, the lord of the worlds. May His peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Mohammad, his family and his companions.

One day, I heard my Father, my Sheikh saying: Even that a follower has faith in a member of a religious sect or that she or he believes in a member of Sufism is a great favor and gift granted to him by Allah the Almighty. However, what is expected from the followers in return is that they should put more effort and endeavor to become more virtuous and reach at higher levels. What is expected from them is that they should reach at the goal that they had in the first place when they joined to the sect. Followers can reach at their initial goals and purposes they want to achieve in this path only through deep affection, ikhlas and devotion to the manners and adab in this path. The reason that some of the ones who entered this path could not benefit or benefitted little from this path is the spiritual illnesses in their hearts. Some ignorant people claim that though they entered the sect years ago they were not able to benefit from it at all. These words of them impute dishonor and flaw to the sect. However, in fact, the flaw and problem is in their own hearts.

The reason for some of them not being able to benefit from this path is that their affection, ikhlas and devotion is vulnerable. Though some people claim that they are one of those who feel affection, ikhlas and devotion, in reality they are away from these qualities. As it is told, sheikhs of Naqshibendi sect are unable to cure two kinds of people. First one of these groups is the ones who do not devote themselves thoroughly to the manners and adab in this path. They are the ones who act as their nafs desires, do not follow the manners and orders in this path and do not avoid the things that are needed to be stayed away. In other words, it is not possible for a person who does not truly devote themselves to benefit from this path and take advantage of these manners. The second group that cannot benefit from this path is reformists. In other words, they are the ones who insert the works, activities that do not belong to Naqshibendis and who create bid?ah.

That followers try to bring bid?ah to this path, make renovations in adab and manners is because they do not believe in the sheikhs of Naqshibendi sincerely. Distinguished sheikhs of our path built it on honorable way of our beloved Prophet (pbuh). These great persons run through each of the hadith of Prophet Mohammed and studied his sunnah the most detailed way, they asked help from Allah and consulted each other, and then they agreed on these manners.

There is one condition for a follower to be safe in and benefit from this path. I heard a story that explains this matter from my Sheikh father. He told me: around the Second World War, when the war finally reached at the land where the Sheikh (k.s) lives, the arm Sheikh got hurt in a battle. His friends and relatives brought him back to Bitlis for his treatment. Doctors in the city who have to act according to the medical means of that day concluded that his arm needed to be cut off in order to let him live.

Relatives and successors of the Sheikh got very upset due to this situation and cry a lot out of their sorrow. Sheikh calls his relatives and successors and says: If the doctors decided that my arm needs to be cut off, it should be cut off. This is because a person who consults to a doctor must follow his orders. It does not make a difference if this doctor is curing spiritual illnesses or physical illnesses. A person needs to act as the doctor commands to benefit from the doctor.

Devotion is a problem especially for scholars. They find it more difficult. I heard my father Sheikh saying that. And it is not possible to get any benefit without devotion, this is unthinkable.

The reason for the difficulty that scholars feel about the devotion is that they refer some things, such as some orders in this path to their knowledge and intelligence; that they try to measure the trueness of them with their knowledge. If these orders conform their knowledge and are in accordance with it, then they do as said, they cling to the orders. However if these orders are not in accordance with their knowledge and rational deductions, they avoid them. However, do not these scholars know that noble persons who built this path, our sheikhs, are much smarter and wise then they are.

The way of these noble scholars who are the great builders of this blessed path is built on the sunnah of our beloved Prophet (pbuh). Their orders are, in fact, the orders of Prophet Mohammed. Whatever our Prophet commanded to us, our sheikhs command us the same thing and whatever our prophet wanted us to avoid, they command us to avoid the same things.

Allah the almighty commands us to obey the orders of Prophet Mohammed and to submit ourselves to him. Allah says in Holy Quran by the meaning: ‘ When there is a problem between you, you try to solve it by yourself. But later you take it to the Messenger of Allah.’

Submission is proportional to affection. The more or less the affection, the more or less submission is. If the affection of a person is high, his or her submission will be high also. But if his or her affection is low, his or her submission will also be less.

May Allah the Almighty make us stand on the path of our Prophet and his companions. May He let us be with the ones who cling to the manners and adab of this path.

Out Lord is capable of anything. May the peace be upon our beloved Prophet, his family and companions.